Key words in this issue: Getting Access | Permission | Public Situations | First Amendment | Information | Rodney King | Ken Burn’s Civil War | Trademark | Patents and Trademarks | Décor Art | Nature | Mistakes | Success | Market | PhotoShop | Service Photography | Macintosh | Digital Library | Google | Marketable Stock Photos |

News Words: Storefront Churches | Joel Sartore | New Focus | Change With Digital | Unicef | Scottish Photographer | Food Before You Eat | New Technology | Logo | Therapeutic | Extended Redistribu tion Rights | Photography Contest |

	PhotoAimLite, the monthly newsletter from PhotoSource International. http://www.photosource.com ISSN 1530-0511 If you no longer wish to receive PhotoAimLite, see the instructions at the end of this newsletter.

Limited Preregistration of Copyrights Now Permitted
by Joel Hecker, Esq

Pursuant to the Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005, the Copyright Office has issued new regulations effective November 15, 2005 which authorize preregistration of certain classes of works which the Registrar of Copyrights determined has had a history of infringement prior to the authorized commercial release of such classes of works.
The initial classes of work covered by the regulations are motion pictures, sound recordings, musical compositions, literary works being prepared for publication in book form, computer programming (including video games), and advertising or marketing photographs.
To be eligible for preregistration, a work falling into one of these classes must also be unpublished and certified to be in the process of being prepared for commercial distribution. This is defined in the regulations as actual preparation having been commenced and at least some portion of it being fixed in a tangible medium of expression. In the classification of advertising or marketing photographs, the photographs (or where a group of photographs are intended for simultaneous publication, at least one of the photographs), must have been taken.
The stated purpose of the statutory scheme and regulations is to fill the existing gap afforded to copyrighted works when infringement occurs prior to authorized commercial distribution, or pre-release infringement. This usually occurs prior to the registration of the final products, thereby denying the copyright owner eligibility for statutory damages and attorneys fees in copyright infringement litigation. In particular, it is aimed at bootleg or pirated copies of music, videos, DVDs, and the like, which are routinely copied and distributed prior to their actual authorized release date.
Preregistration requires submission of an application and $100 non-refundable filing fee to the Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov. Only electronic submissions on electronic form PRE will be accepted. No deposit copy of the work itself is to be submitted. Instead, a detailed description of not more than 2000 characters (approximately 330 words) of the work is to accompany the application. The regulations spell out what the identifying description should contain. For advertising or marketing photographs, these include the subject matter depicted, including the particular product, event, public figure, or other item or occurrence which the photograph is intended to advertise or market. Additional details which would assist in identifying the photographs include the party for whom taken, approximate time periods taken, approximate number of photographs which may be included in the grouping, any events associated with the photographs, and the location and physical setting or surroundings depicted in the photos. It may also explain the general presentation (ie. lighting, background scenery, positioning of elements, and applicable location and events) associated with the photograph.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/legal129.html

Getting Access

Do you need permission to photograph in public situations?
For an editorial stock photographer, the answer is yes and no. No, applies for the majority of circumstances, if your photos are not to be used for advertising or promotion, and will be used for educating, informing or entertaining the public.
However, for most stock photographers, there are occasions when the need to ask someone for permission to photograph arises. I'm talking about situations where you want to photograph the interior of a store, a pharmacist dispensing pills, a shopping mall, kids in a classroom, and so on.
It can be to your benefit to seek permission. As an editorial photographer, you probably specialize. By following the proper channels and working under the guidelines of the property owner, or person in charge of an area, you assure yourself the authorization to return for more photographing of this specialized subject matter at future times.
There will be circumstances, of course, when you’re unable to find or contact the person who would give permission. If you do proceed with your photographing, without the permission, a courtesy file photo or tear sheet sent to the property owner or person in authority later, will often assure an invitation to photograph again.

THE RIGHT WAY
So, when the moment arises and you need to ask someone for permission to photograph, how should you do it?
Stock photographers have two ways to go about obtaining permission to photograph. One way is right and one way is wrong. Citing your First Amendment Rights, you can try to demand permission to photograph. This seldom ends with success, and certainly no cooperation or invitations for return visits.
The other way is to ask nicely. Be polite, explain why you would like to photograph inside the store, school, shopping mall, etc.
Remember that you most likely are talking to someone who is unaware of the field of stock photography. In some cases, they may be wary of you and suspect that you are working for their competition. In other cases, photographs of their building or enterprise are a profit center for them (such as in their gift shop), and they wouldn't welcome the competition from you. An explanation of how you would be using the photographs is then in order.
Most permission givers will be delighted that you are interested in photographing their property or business operation. They will recognize the public relations benefit of letting you publicize them -- free of charge (and you can help them be aware of this with the right presentation on your part).

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/sbar4.html

An instrument for truth. . .
Hungry For Information

We don't often think of a camera as a weapon. However, as society moves forward, it's becoming more apparent that the camera, indeed, is becoming at least a protection device. Photographs and videos, used positively, have brought attention to ills of society, ranging from environmental destruction to political chicanery. The strong reality of still photos and video has served as evidence in court cases ranging from the Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King a decade ago, to the more recent Madelyne Gorman Toogood beating of her 4-year old daughter in the parking lot of a northern Indiana department store.
It may be that the still photos and film footage the general public was exposed to in a distant land during the Vietnam War contributed to the halting of that war.
The PBS run of Ken Burn's Civil War series has honed our awareness of what happened on our own soil to boys that went off to war and never came back. Mathew Brady's records of tragically strewn bodies did not have television to increase their exposure. But the exposure they did get served as a powerful reminder to both sides that war wasn't the answer to the era’s burning issues.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/psphy60.html

Establishing a Trademark

Your photography is your trademark, once you get established. But before you become established, a 'trademark' may very well be an important element to your success. A distinctive logo or design to your letterhead can help you start looking familiar to photobuyers -- and help your name to be remembered. As your photography enterprise progresses, you will build equity in your trademark.
When you design your symbol, or logo (as a trademark is often called), be aware of a common error: the temptation to use the obvious -- a camera, tripod, an aperture symbol, etc. You will, of course, want to choose from 'things photographic,' but try for a combination or a particular adaptation that's all your own. Make it simple, and easy to remember. Recruit friends who are good at designing, drawing, and critiquing your work. Let them help in the decisions, based on the pointers mentioned above. Flip through the yellow pages to see how others have tackled the question of a logo. Don't be 'cute' in your design, it will soon wear off, and could even be offensive to clients. Don't be obscure, either.
Some hints: If you are a nature photographer, choose a design that reflects your specialty. Children photographer? Choose a classic shot of yours that lends itself well to a simplified sketch or drawing. But be careful not to "date" the hairstyle or clothing.
Aerial photographer? Tie into that.
One caution: Unless you are decidedly a specialist, don't be too specific with your trademark design. Example: you only photograph crocodiles. (It might be better to design your own logo to represent reptiles.) Besides, you might expand your collection to all animals- in which case it might be better to incorporate an animal in you logo to begin with. You might change your field in the future, and you will have lost the previous exposure you worked hard to build up for your original logo (trademark).
A trademark can also consist of the particular name that you give to your photography service, e.g. Johnson & Johnson.
Can another person copy (steal!) your trademark? Yes, a person can, but you have the advantage of common-law right to your name or design (or a combination of them), providing you were the first to use it. This, of course, would have to be proved by you, or by the other person who claims that she/he was there first to use the name or design (trademark). There have been some cases where it was impossible to prove who actually was the first to use a trademark, and the courts have ruled that the warring persons must 'share' the trademark. [By the way, trademark rights can be acquired only by actually using the mark: displaying it on your letterhead, rubber stamp, etc.]
If you want to be sure that no one steals your trademark, you can register it with the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, DC 20231. The cost is $375* and expect a waiting period of 2 to 20 months! Engaging an attorney can speed up the whole process, but the expense might not be practical.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/ed71.html

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“The magic of photography is metaphysical.
What you see in the photograph isn’t what
you saw at the time. The real skill of
photography is organized visual lying.”
- Terence Donovan
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Another Photography Profit Center…
Décor Art

What makes a good Art Décor photograph?
With scenics, a major thrust is to make viewers “wish they were there.” Choose a view or subject you would like to look at 365 days a year. If you don't like the view or subject, chances are your customers won't either. Keep in mind that most buyers of Décor Art enjoy pictures of pleasant subjects because they find in your pictures an 'escape' from the routine of everyday chores. That's why for this purpose it's important to take your scenics without people in them. Your viewers would like to imagine themselves strolling through the meadow or along the beach. They consider recognizable 'people' in your picture as an intrusion of their own quietude and privacy. In addition, if people are included in Décor Art pictures, this can 'date' the picture due to the style of clothes, hairstyle, etc.
Nature close-ups are always a sure-seller. They rarely become out-dated: dandelion seeds, insects, birds, leaves, etc.
Art Décor buyers tend to buy easily recognizable subjects. For example, an antique windmill would consistently sell better than a modern wind generator. Keep your Art Décor simplified by isolating your subjects. (Feature only one at a time...rather than a group of something.)
Animals are always a popular subject -- usually wild ones; but also pets, domestic animals, dogs, cats, and horses.
Dramatic Landscapes are good bets, in all seasons, and especially with approaching storm clouds, complete with lightning.
Another area of Photo Décor that is growing: abstracts. Abstracts
are finding favor for use in waiting rooms, attorneys' offices, professional buildings -- as well as homes.

Sports scenes lend themselves to game rooms and family playrooms; portraits (exotic or interesting faces) to legal suites; erotic subjects to private clubs; industrial scenes to manufacturing company offices.
It goes without saying -- your pictures should be well composed, visually exciting, and of high technical quality.
SOME POINTERS: Prices depend on whether you sell by volume, individually, or large format, to corporate clients. At art fairs, individual buyers will pay about $45 (11x14) and $30 (8x10). Before you decide on your own price, see what local department stores are getting.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/ed49.html

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio:
Warren D. Jorgensen
(http://folio.photosource.com/2448)
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Want To Improve your Photo Sales? Here Are Seven Marketing Mistakes To Avoid.
Avoid These On Your Path To Success

My cousin in Texas told me she wanted to get into stock photography and hoped to start selling to magazine and book publishers. When I visited her a couple of years ago, she brought out an album of her outdoor and travel photography. "People have told me these pictures are as good as the ones they see published in magazines and books. What do you think ?"

"Before I look at the pictures, let me see your marketing methods," I said.

"My what?"

If you are interested in seeing your credit line in national magazines and books, and you can produce excellent images, the following will be helpful to you.

We all know that trying to sell excellent umbrellas on a sunny day is difficult. But even inferior umbrellas will sell during a downpour.

The engine that drives the selling process for stock photographers is fueled by effective marketing methods.

Over the years, I've looked at dozens of collections of superb photos gathering dust in shoe boxes. One important element stood between those pictures being published and remaining in the shoe box: skillful marketing techniques.

I've noticed that the photographers who succeed at selling to the book and magazine industry are those that have developed a strategy for selling, which today we call, marketing.

We've heard of the photographer who hit the jackpot with the sale of one photo for use on a billboard or in an advertising campaign. This is rare. Your best bet to break into the stock photo field is to aim at the book and magazine industry.

The photography budget for a medium-size publishing house is between $20,000 and $40,000 monthly. For a major publisher, it's twice that amount. Stock photographers who are consistent at selling their photos have learned to identify certain markets that match their own areas of interest. Once they become a "regular" at the publishing house, they receive a steady stream of photo requests and assignments.

Want to improve your marketing methods? Here are seven marketing mistakes to avoid:

1. CREATE FIRST THEN FIND A MARKET
Number one is probably the most oft-repeated marketing mistake. Creative people tend to produce their product first, and then attempt to find a market for it. This is a recipe for disaster. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is strewn with bodies of creative people who never learned: "Find the market first, and then create for that market." Find markets that want photos in the subject areas that match your interest areas.
Many entry level stock photographers fail because they attempt to take "photos that sell," not necessarily ones they love photographing.

2. ATTEMPT TO BE ALL THINGS TO EVERYONE
When you try to be all things to all people in the publishing world, the photobuyer's reaction is: "No one can be that good!" Discover your photographic strength areas, and go for them. Many entry-level stock photographers go after the whole pie rather than the piece of the pie. Instead, become a specialist. Don't photograph everything you see. You'll burn out. Stay within a "segment," and become an expert in your own area(s) of interest. Learn to speak the language of your interest areas. You'll become a valuable resource to a certain group of photobuyers out there. If wild horses can't pull you away from certain subject areas, you'll succeed. You'll fail or get bored if you aim for only those markets that 'pay well.’

3. FOR SOUL NOT FOR SALE
Writer's rarely get their poetry published, and even rarer is getting paid for it. In the stock photography field, don't expect your 'artsy' pictures to sell. Consider them your poetry. Ask yourself next time you're taking (making) a picture, "Is this for sale or is it for soul?"
Spend Sundays to take pictures that feed your soul, take the marketable pictures during the week to feed the family.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/08ab01.html

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Need the answer to a tax question? Use the
free IRS hot-line. Best time to call is Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday. 1-800-829-1040.
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Photoshop’s Adjustment Layers
by David Arnold & Gail Rutman

Anytime you adjust an image in Photoshop (or any other image editing software) you lose valuable pixels, leading to image degradation. Multiple adjustments to an image (Levels to set the black point and white point, Shadow/Highlight to pull out shadow detail, Curves to tweak contrast or to darken or lighten all or specific areas of the image, etc.) multiply the loss.
How can you avoid this loss? Use adjustment layers.
Adjustment layers are like transparent sheets of glass or acetate stacked on top of each other, each of which contains an adjustment and its settings. You can see through to the layers below, and you can add, remove, or modify layers at will, as well as shift their position in the stack.
The layer palette gives you a cross-section view of the layer stack. If you see one aspect of an image you want to modify further (contrast, for example), you can go back to that particular layer and just make the desired change, without having to dump the whole effort and start again from scratch.
What’s more, you can save your image in layers. So if you learn a new technique, or have a client who requests a different look, or Adobe has added a new feature to Photoshop that you want to take advantage of, you can go back later and simply remove or modify the appropriate layer.
The adjustments aren’t permanent—nor are any pixels actually lost—until you flatten the image into a single layer for delivery. Always do this to a copy of the layered image, and archive the unflattened version. Though working in layers adds an extra step to each adjustment (and increases file size), in the long run you’ll save time and improve the quality of your images.
To create an adjustment layer click Layers>Adjustment Layers (or the Adjustment Layers icon in the Layers palette) and the specific tool you want to use. Almost every Photoshop book spends at least a few pages on adjustment layers, with illustrations to help you understand the x-ray view of a layered image displayed by the layers palette. Just check the index for “Adjustment Layers.”

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/mcard20.html

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Travel photographers will find profitable information
in the newsletter, TravelWriter Marketletter, founded
by Robert Scott Milne. For info: mimi@travelwriterml.com.
Ask for a sample to be sent to you.
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Insensitive Photos

As an editorial stock photographer you are not coached or art-directed by someone else, as is the commercial photographer. You make the decisions. As an editorial stock photographer your mission is to produce images of the world as you see it. This is the same license given to any artist. If you are constrained as an artist, then you are influenced, and if you are influenced, your directions are coming from someone other than you. If this be the case, then the photograph is not really yours.
Society would have artists produce material that is 'politically correct,' or to put it another way, to not produce material that is considered insensitive to local, regional, or national mores.
Within our own industry, critics of your editorial stock photography will often wave the banner of "ethics," claiming that you have overstepped certain boundaries in photographing wildlife, or natural objects. Or that you’re intruding into the private lives of individuals or government officials.
What does “ethics” have to do with art? Or don’t you consider yourself an artist? If you think of yourself as an engineer, or a technician, maybe ethics plays a role.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/psphy59.html

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Are you using a LightBOX to respond to photo
requests? If not, as a subscriber to one of our
marketletters or PhotoSourceBook, you have
Free access to our PhotoSource LightBOX.
A tutorial can be found at
http://www.photosource.com/account/lightbox/tutorial/
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Which Photographer Are You?

Know thyself was the advice Plato gave his students. Good advice for the stock photographer, too, who wishes to market his/her stock photography.
To apply Plato's suggestion: If you know where you fit, in the vast spectrum of the world of photography, you'll have easy sledding when it comes to marketing your pictures.
Why? First of all, there's no one quite like you. You have a treasure of experiences: knowledge, know-how, and interests. Plus, you are a talented photographer. When you know your own strengths and select your markets accordingly, you'll find that photobuyers like to work with photographers whose files of stock photos match their layout needs. In other words, you speak their language.
Know thyself. You are an important resource to photo editors, if you do your homework and find the photobuyers whose photo needs match the photos you like to take.
'SERVICE' PHOTOGRAPHY:
Many newcomers to the field of stock photography initially set their goals toward advertising, PR, industrial, fashion, and assignment photography. These and similar "work for hire" areas are what we call "service" photography. Clients pay for your services - at your day rate - to shoot their visual needs.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/ed80.html

TRAVELERS ABROAD

Photographers: We broadcast your foreign destinations along with contact information, departure date, length of stay, etc. Contact PhotoStockNotes (1 715 248-3800) at least two months in advance.

Steve Robertson
November 7 – December 29, 2005
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
December 19 – January 13, 2006
Bangkok, Pattaya, Thailand

Donald Keith
November 9 – November 14, 2005
London, Tel Aviv

Sayyeda Garcia
October 30 – April 10, 2006
Italy, La Maddlena, Palau, Olbia

Diana Sabreen
January 9 – April 18, 2006
Thailand

Lee Snider
December 7 – December 20, 2005
Hong Kong

ON-LINE
by Bill Hopkins

Reading Windows e-mails on Macintosh
Normally, there is no problem when Windows users send e-mails with attachments to Mac users. But sometimes the Mac user gets the attachment as a "winmail.dat" file and can't open it, or it looks like gibberish. This can happen when the Windows sender uses Microsoft Outlook and sends the attachment as a rich text file.This is often the result when Microsoft Office gets installed, as Outlook is part of the Office suite (not to be confused with Outlook Express, which is part of Internet Explorer). One solution is to have the Windows sender change the settings. Another approach is to download a free Mac program called TNEF's Enough (TNEF: Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format, a proprietary format used by Microsoft Exchange and Outlook e-mail clients). It will allow Mac users to decode the winmail.dat file. You can download it from various places by searching the Internet for "tnef enough." Here is one source: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12705.

Library of Congress's Digital Library
Building on existing digital documentary projects, the Library of Congress is working with other nations' libraries to build a World Digital Library. It will focus on creating digital records of global cultures. Naturally, the project is seeking global sponsors, and Google has jumped in with a $3 million donation. Yes, the same Google that is in a copyright battle with the Authors Guild and other publishers seeking to block Google's plan to create an online catalog of copyrighted works. Google has agreed to work with the Library on developing standards for indexing digital collections. Take a look at some of the Library's projects such as the American Memory Project (http://www.loc.gov/memory) and the Global Gateway, a collaboration with five national libraries in Europe and Brazil focusing on ties between those cultures and the U.S. (http://international.loc.gov/intldl/find/digital_collaborations.html).

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/onlin164.html

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS

Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case - clicking on it won't work. Instead, "copy and paste" the URL.

Images of faith. Photographer of American ghetto turns his camera on STOREFRONT CHURCHES - Camilo Jose Vergara noticed that urban areas emptied by blight were filling up with storefront churches. The pastors were cab drivers and retired steel and transit workers with little or no formal religious training, yet they took on an important role in their communities.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/01/09/religion/rel01.txt

NikonNet and 'Legends Behind the Lens' Pay Tribute to JOEL SARTORE This January - Sartore photographs wildlife and the environment. Convincing people that there is a tangible, measurable and practical benefit to preserving the land and its inhabitants is, Sartore believes, the key to saving the wild places and the species that live there.
http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/23797.html

How camera gave William's life NEW FOCUS - the relaxing and therapeutic art of photography has helped turn around the life of a Freshwater man in his battle to overcome debilitating mental illness.
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?
SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1307017

Knowles' digital SLR gives him the control to deliver what he wants - "That's a big, big CHANGE WITH DIGITAL," he said. "You can control your perspective. Now I can look at a scene and say, "What do I want.'"
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/collingwood/
entertainment/story/3249131p-3762502c.html

UNICEF Photo of the Year 2005 - A powerfully emotional black and white image of a 13 year old kid who died in Christmas 2004 in Moldova, a drug addict suffering from HIV, won SCOTTISH PHOTOGRAPHER David Gillanders the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2005.
http://photography.about.com/b/a/2006_01_09.htm

Point and eat - Thanks to the lower costs and easy preview features of digital cameras, taking a photo of your FOOD BEFORE YOU EAT it is replacing the toast as a pre-meal ritual.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory
/LAC/20060107/FOOD07/TPEntertainment/Style

Adobe Unveils Lightroom Public Beta and Delivers NEW TECHNOLOGY for Digital Photography Workflows-
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060109/20060108005029.html?.v=1

Kodak Introduces NEW LOGO-
http://www.adrants.com/2006/01/kodak-introduces-new-logo.php

The relaxing and THERAPEUTIC art of photography has helped turn around the life of a Freshwater man in his battle to overcome debilitating mental illness.
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?
SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1307017

Fotolia's New Royalty Free License Option Gives Designers EXTENDED REDISTRIBUTION RIGHTS - Photographers benefit from the Extended Royalty Free License by still maintaining their copyright and can set the price for this new license of images within their rank, which is based on the amount of images that photographer has sold.
http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/23800.html

BetterPhoto.comT PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST Grows Over 100 percent in 2005 - The contest, which awards prizes in 10 categories, showcases the best in photography on the web.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20060109
/bs_prweb/prweb329778_1

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